Kyle was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 2009 and wrote a bestselling autobiography, American Sniper, which was published in January 2012. A film adaptation of Kyle's autobiography, directed by Clint Eastwood, was released in December 2014. On February 2, 2013, Kyle was shot and killed at a shooting range near Chalk Mountain, Texas, with his friend, Chad Littlefield. The man accused of killing them, Eddie Ray Routh, was found guilty of both murders and later sentenced to life in prison without parole.[9]

Contents

Early life

Kyle was born in Odessa, Texas, the first of two boys born to Deby Lynn (née Mercer) and Wayne Kenneth Kyle, a Sunday school teacher and a deacon.[3][10] Kyle's father bought his son his first rifle at eight years old, a bolt-action .30-06 Springfield rifle, and later a shotgun, with which they hunted pheasant, quail, and deer.[3] Kyle attended high school in Midlothian, Texas.[11] After school, Kyle became a professional bronco rodeo rider and worked on a ranch, but his professional rodeo career ended abruptly when he severely injured his arm.[12]

Assigned to SEAL Team 3, sniper element, platoon "Charlie" (later "Cadillac"),[7] within the Naval Special Warfare Command, and with four tours of duty, Kyle served in many major battles of the Iraq War.[3] His first long-range kill shot was taken during the initial invasion when he shot a woman approaching a group of Marines while carrying a hand grenade. An article by CNN reported that the woman was cradling a toddler in her other hand.[13] As ordered, he opened fire, killing the woman before she could attack.[14] He later stated, "the woman was already dead. I was just making sure she didn't take any Marines with her. It was clear that not only did she want to kill them, but she didn’t care about anybody else nearby who would have been blown up by the grenade or killed in the firefight. Children on the street, people in the houses, maybe her child"[7] Because of his track record as a marksman during his deployment to Ramadi, the insurgents named him Shaitan Ar-Ramadi (English: 'The Devil of Ramadi'), and put a $21,000 bounty on his head that was later increased to $80,000. They posted signs highlighting the cross on his arm as a means of identifying him.[3][14] In his book, "American Sniper", Kyle describes his longest successful shot ever: in 2008, outside Sadr City, he killed an insurgent about to fire a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) at a U.S. Army convoy with "a straight-up luck shot" from his McMillan Tac-338 sniper rifle from about 2,100 yards (1,920 m) away.[7] Chris Kyle became known by the moniker "Legend" among the general infantry and Marines whom he was tasked to protect. This title initially originated in jest among fellow SEALs following his taking of a sabbatical to train other snipers in Fallujah. During four tours of duty in the Iraq War, Kyle was shot twice and survived six separate IED explosions.[14]

Number of kills as a sniper

While neither the Pentagon, Navy nor SOC have challenged the claim of Chris Kyle being the current top sniper, the exact number of sniper kills is obscure. To be counted as confirmed "They basically had to see the person fall and be clearly dead" according to Jim DeFelice, one of the coauthors of Kyle's autobiography.[15] Kyle's shooter’s statements, filled out by every sniper after a mission, were reported to higher command who kept them in case some kill was contested as outside the Rules of Engagement.[16] However, Wayne V. Hall, a spokesman for the Army, stated that "the U.S. Army does not keep any record, official or otherwise, of [the number of] confirmed kills", and the U.S. Special Operations Commands spokesman Ken McGraw says SOC treats a sniper's tally as "unofficial": "If anything, we shy away from reporting numbers like that. It’s so difficult to prove."[15] The publisher HarperCollins states "The Pentagon has officially confirmed more than 150 of Kyle's kills (the previous American record was 109), but it has declined to verify the astonishing total number for this book".[17] In his autobiography, Kyle wrote "The Navy credits me with more kills as a sniper than any other American service member, past or present. I guess that’s true. They go back and forth on what the number is. One week, it’s 160 (the “official” number as of this writing, for what that’s worth), then it’s way higher, then it’s somewhere in between. If you want a number, ask the Navy — you may even get the truth if you catch them on the right day".[7][18]

Weapons

As a sniper, he was often asked about his weapons. While in training, he used four different rifles in order to know which weapon was the most useful in the given situation. In the field the following were used:[7]

Post-military life

Kyle left the U.S. Navy in 2009 and moved to Midlothian, Texas, with his wife, Taya, and two children.[19] He was president of Craft International, a tactical training company for the U.S. military and law enforcement communities.[20]

In 2012, HarperCollins released Kyle's autobiographical book American Sniper.[7] Kyle had initially hesitated to write the book but was persuaded to move forward because other books about SEALs were underway.[21] In his book, Kyle wrote bluntly of his experiences. Of the battle for control of Ramadi he says "Force moved that battle. We killed the bad guys and brought the leaders to the peace table. That is how the world works."[22] In the book and in interviews following, Kyle stated he had no regrets about his work as a sharpshooter, saying, "I had to do it to protect the Marines."[23]American Sniper had a 37-week run on The New York Times bestseller list and brought Kyle national attention.[24] Following its release, media articles challenged some of Kyle's anecdotes,[25] but the core of his narrative was widely accepted. "Tales of his heroism on the battlefield were already lore in every branch of the armed forces," writes Michael J. Mooney, author of a biography of Kyle.[26]

Kyle paired with FITCO Cares Foundation, a nonprofit organization which created the Heroes Project to provide free in-home fitness equipment, individualized programs, personal training, and life-coaching to in-need veterans with disabilities, Gold Star families, or those suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder.[27] On August 13, 2012, Kyle appeared on the reality television show Stars Earn Stripes, which features celebrities pairing up with a special operations or law enforcement professional who train them in weapons and combat tactics. Kyle was teamed with actor Dean Cain.[28]

In interviews on The Opie and Anthony Show in January 2012, Kyle claimed to have punched former Minnesota GovernorJesse Ventura at a bar in Coronado, California, in 2006 during a wake for Mike Monsoor, a U.S. Navy SEAL and Medal of Honor recipient killed in Iraq.[29] The story parallels an incident in his book which does not mention Ventura by name, and claims a character named "Scruff Face" said that the SEALs "deserved to lose a few guys."[30] Kyle, in radio and television interviews following the book’s publication, admitted that “Scruff Face” was Ventura.[31] Ventura filed a lawsuit against Kyle for defamation in January 2012.[32][33] After Kyle was killed the following year, Ventura continued the lawsuit against Kyle's estate.[34] The court found that the Kyle estate was unjustly enriched and awarded Ventura $1.8 million in damages.[35][36] Kyle's widow is appealing the verdict on behalf of Kyle's estate.[37]

Death

On February 2, 2013, Kyle and a companion, Chad Littlefield, were shot and killed by Eddie Ray Routh at the Rough Creek Ranch-Lodge-Resort shooting range in Erath County, Texas.[38] Both men were armed with .45-caliber 1911-style pistols when they were killed, but neither gun had been unholstered or fired. The safety catches were still on. Kyle was killed with a .45-caliber pistol, while Littlefield was shot with a 9mm SIG Sauer handgun. Both guns belonged to Kyle.[39]

Routh was a 25-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran from Lancaster, Texas.[40] Kyle and Littlefield had reportedly taken Routh to the gun range in an effort to help him with his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Routh had been in and out of mental hospitals for at least two years and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.[41] His family also said he suffered from PTSD from his time in the military.[42][43] On the way to the shooting range, Kyle texted Littlefield, "This dude is straight up nuts." in which Littlefield responded, "Watch my six", military slang meaning "watch my back".[44]

After the killings, Routh went to his sister's house in Midlothian and told her what he had done. His sister, Laura Blevins, called 9-1-1 and told the emergency operator: "They went out to a shooting range ... Like, he's all crazy. He's fucking psychotic."[41][45] Local police captured Routh after a short freeway chase, which ended when Routh, who fled the scene in Kyle's Ford F-350 truck, crashed into a police cruiser in Lancaster.[46]

A memorial service was held for Kyle at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on February 11, 2013. Kyle was buried on February 12, 2013, at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, after a funeral procession from Midlothian to Austin, stretching more than 200 miles (320 km).[47] Hundreds of people lined Interstate 35 to view the procession and pay their final respects to Kyle.[48][49]

Routh was arraigned February 2, 2013, on two counts of capital murder and was taken to the Erath County Jail for holding under a $3 million bond.[50] His trial was set to begin May 5, 2014, but was delayed to allow more time to comply with DNA testing requirements.[51] The trial began on February 11, 2015.[52]

On February 24, 2015, Routh was found guilty of the deaths of Kyle and Littlefield with the jury returning the verdict in under three hours of deliberations. Since prosecutors decided beforehand to not seek the death penalty, the trial judge, Jason Cashon, immediately sentenced Routh to life in prison with no possibility of parole.[53][54]